Dean Cavanagh is a screenwriter, novelist and Playwright born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, West Yorkshire. In 1990, at the height of the

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

scene, he founded the

club culture Clubbing (also known as club culture, related to raving) is the activity of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs ( discotheques, discos or just clubs) and festivals. That includes socializing, listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol ...

magazine ''Herb Garden'' and a band with Enzo Annecchini. His electronic music outfit, Glamorous Hooligan, was picked up by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

offshoot Arthrob, and in 1996, they released an album, ''Naked City Soundtrax''. Glamorous Hooligan's first album ''Wasted Youth Club Classics'' was released by indie label Mass of Black in 1994. Cavanagh has stated that his proudest moment was getting

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

to guest on one of the tracks. As a musician, he featured on

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's ''Sounds of the Suburbs'' TV show, in the late 1990s. As a clubland promoter, he ran underground house music, and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

, clubs in Bradford, called Tolerance, before moving on to Leeds, where he promoted the Soundclash club bringing in DJs such as

Andrew Weatherall Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being a DJ in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of tracks by Happy M ...

, Alex Patterson,

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms ...

and J. Saul Kane. Cavanagh has written two theatre plays with Irvine Welsh that have been performed internationally. Babylon Heights premiered in San Francisco in 2006 before a run in Dublin. Performers premiered at The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh as part of the festival in 2017. Both plays have been published.

Author

His debut The Secret Life of The Novel was published by Zani in 2017. His short story "Mile High Meltdown" was included in the ''

Disco Biscuits The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein (bass guitar, vocals), Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig (guitar, vocals), and Aron Magner (keyboards, synths, voca ...

'' anthology, published by

Sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

Journalist

As a journalist he has contributed to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday'' was launch ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'', ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', ''Positive Energy of Madness'', '' The Face'', as well as the ''Herb Garden'', and ''

i-D ''i-D'' is a British biannual magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art, film and youth culture. The magazine was launched in 1980 by Terry Jones, originally as a hand-stapled fanzine it has since evolved into a glossy publication. In 2023 the ...

''. He has also worked in

copywriting Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called Copy (publishing), copy or sales copy, is written content t ...

, penning commercials and working alongside directors John McFarlane and

Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed '' The Cell'' (2000), '' The Fall'' (2006), '' Immortals'' (2011), '' Mirror M ...

before progressing to writing TV, theater plays and film. Cavanagh wrote a late night sitcom called '' Honky Sausages'' that McFarlane directed for UK Play TV and gave a start to the actress

Laila Morse Maureen Lesley Bass (' Oldman; born 1 August 1945), better known by her stage name Laila Morse, is an English actress. After making her acting debut as Janet in the drama film '' Nil by Mouth'' (1997), she went on to join the BBC soap opera ' ...

, ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''. Cavanagh developed many projects with

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

's producer

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

for John Kamen's company

RadicalMedia RadicalMedia is an independent global media and creative production company. Founded by Jon Kamen and Frank Scherma, the company had developed film, television, and branded content. In 2010, Fremantle purchased a 60 percent stake in the compan ...

. Cavanagh works regularly with

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

. Their play ''Babylon Heights'' has been performed to critical acclaim in Dublin, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Zealand. In 2004, Cavanagh and Welsh were

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nominated for their

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

short film ''Dose'', starring Jonathon Lewis Owen, Kate Jarman and

Julia Davis Julia Davis (born August 1966) is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the comedies Human Remains (TV series), ''Human Remains'' (2000) and ''Nighty Night'' (2004–2005). She later worke ...

and directed by Philip John. ''Wedding Belles'' is a feature film written by Welsh and Cavanagh that was transmitted by C4 in March 2007. It stars

Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. Her accolades include two Scottish BAFTAs, a VFCC Award and an Olivier Award, as well as BAFTA, BIFA, London Critics' Circle, Chlotrudis, Gotham, and Canadian Screen Award n ...

Michelle Gomez Michelle Gomez (born 23 November 1966), is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the comedy series '' The Book Group'' (2002–2003), '' Green Wing'' (2004–2007), and '' Bad Education'' (2012–2013). She went on to app ...

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on ''The Irish Ti ...

, Shauna McDonald, and Kathleen McDermott. It is produced by Jemma Rodgers and directed by Philip John. Cavanagh and Welsh co-executive produced '' Wedding Belles''. It was nominated for a best writing BAFTA.

Scripts

Cavanagh has done a number of script doctoring assignments for companies such as

Endemol Endemol B.V. (stylized in all lowercase) was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted gen ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

and

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

both in the UK and the US. Cavanagh and Welsh have a three-season, six-part TV series called ''The Food Chain'' that was developed for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. Cavanagh created the Internet series ''Svengali!'' starring Roger Evans,

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, comedian, and television presenter. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Jam & Jerusale ...

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most ...

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. Noted for his distinctive voice, he is best known for his television roles in comedy series such as ''The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ' ...

and

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

distributes the series worldwide for free. The film version was released in early 2014 but Cavanagh walked away from the project. Cavanagh has completed writing and directing his first movie, "Kubricks" with his son Josh. "I've been following Kubrick researchers like Rob Ager and Jay Weidner for the last few years and I really wanted to dramatize a story based around Kubrick as an inspirational enigma. There is a wealth of material about the esoteric side of Kubrick on the net and Ager and Weidner are great places to start the journey from." Cavanagh still makes music under the name Culture Is No Friend Of Mine. On 23 July 2020 it was announced that Cavanagh and Welsh were working on an adaptation of Welsh's novel ''

Crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

'' as a 6-part miniseries for streaming service

BritBox BritBox is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Video on demand#Subscription models, video on demand Streaming television, streaming service founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, ITV which operates in eight countries across Australi ...

. Cavanagh and Welsh adapted

Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...

's 2013 autobiography for the film ''

Creation Stories A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

'' (2021).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh, Dean Living people English male journalists English screenwriters English male screenwriters Writers from Bradford British artists Year of birth missing (living people)